'The Poet Game'With
songs such as "Spring Wind," "The Poet Game," "'cept
You and Me Babe" and a seemingly
bottomless songbook,
Greg Brown is very much the epitome of the singer-
songwriter,
writing songs that are beautiful and lyrical,
which sizzle with emotion and have
a heartbreaking
wistfulness to them. "I've sung what I was given," he
sings,
in a voice heavy and brooding, "some was bad and
some was good./I never did know
from where it came/and if
I had it all to do again I am not sure/I would play
the
poet game." It's an affecting lyric, but Brown imbues it
with enough energy
and feeling to make the underlying
heartbreak palpable. Greg Brown performs at
8 p.m. Feb.
27 at Bull Run Restaurant, 215 Great Road, Shirley. (978)
425-4311.
$35. (Victor D. Infante)

Seeing RedThe
band Red feels a lot like the alt.-rock bands of the
'90s such as Live and Bush,
with its metal-informed
guitar lines and smooth, masculine vocals, resulting
in
songs that were textured and melodic. Red does a lot of
this, with songs
such as "Breathe Into Me" and "Already
Over" having that pop sensibility and
accessibility,
anchored to a hard-rock sound. Red performs with
Islander, 3
Years Hollow and A King In Wait at 6 p.m.
March 1. $18 in advance, $20 at the
door. The Palladium,
261 Main St., Worcester. (508) 797-9696. (Victor D.
Infante)

Not forgottenCahill
Smith has been making a name for himself as a
pianist, and also for the late
Russian composer Nikolai
Medtner. Well-regarded in his lifetime (particularly
in
England, where he settled), Medtner (1880-1951) has
fallen into obscurity.
But Smith has been righting that
wrong, and will perform Medtner's aptly titled
"Forgotten
Melodies, Book 1, Op. 38" during a recital at 3 p.m. Feb.
28 in
the Warner Theater at Worcester Academy. The
concert is benefit for the "Music-to-Go"
program of The
Music Guild of Worcester. The program introduces
elementary
students to the instruments of the band and
orchestra through various activities.
Smith is considered
a pianist on the rise, and his concert will also include
works by Mozart, Scarlatti and Sebastian Currier. Tickets
are $20; $5 youth.
www.musicworcester.org. (Richard
Duckett)

'Uncanny Japan'Tsukioka
Yoshitoshi (1839-1892), one of the greatest
Japanese woodblock artists, is the
subject of a new
exhibition at the Worcester Art Museum. "Uncanny Japan:
The
Art of Yoshitoshi," on view from Feb. 28 to May 24,
surveys the artist's prolific
career and his innovation
in print at a time when the medium was facing increasing
competition from photography and lithography. The
exhibition features an assortment
of Yoshitoshi's
signature works — images of horror and cruelty,
supernatural
creatures, commanding acts of bravery by
legendary figures from Japanese history,
samurai images
and sensitive portraits of contemporary women. In
conjunction
with "Uncanny Japan," WAM will host a daylong
celebration of Japanese culture
on March 22. A companion
exhibition, "Samurai!," opens at WAM April 18. On May
21
at 6 p.m., there will be a presentation on historic
Japanese flutes by composer
Shirish Korde. In addition,
flutist Alice Jones will perform three musical pieces,
including Korde's "The Tenderness of Cranes." (Richard
Duckett)

Original BirdmanThe
documentary "I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story"
profiles Caroll Spinney,
the 80-year-old puppeteer who
has been behind "Sesame Street's" Big Bird and
Oscar the
Grouch since the show's first season. The movie, which
features footage
from archives of home videos dating back
to the 1950s, will screen at 7 p.m.
Feb. 28 at Bradley
Playhouse, 30 Front St., Putnam. (860) 928-7887 or
www.thebradleyplayhouse.org.
$20.

Today's poll:

What is your favorite era of Star Trek

The original series

The
movies with the original cast, particularly The Wrath of Khan

Star
Trek the New Generation

Deep Space Nine

The
new, rebooted Star Trek movies

I'm just too sad right now. Rest in
Peace, Leonard Nimoy

Results of the previous poll:

Now that Two and a Half Men is gone, what's your favorite
sit- com?

Modern
Family

24.3%

Blackish

4.3%

Community

7.1%

Big Bang Theory

42.9%

Broad City

4.3%

The nightly news (fill in your target of choice ...)

17.1%

New
Music: The Alex Cohen Project, Idris Goodwin, Kelly ClarksonVictor
InfanteSinger-songwriter Alex Cohen has a warm,
robust voice. It's rich, textured and has a nice curl that softens around a song's
edge. Even when he moves to a more harsh, jagged sound – such as on the chorus
of the song "Home" – there's still something of the velvet cushioning the
cut.

Café
Reyes serves up an authentic Cuban sandwichTable Hoppin'Café Reyes, 421 Shrewsbury St., Worcester, has served Cuban
and Latin American food since it opened in mid-January, and since Day One, the
café has made the traditional Cuban sandwich.

Prince,
Pitbull and more help warm the end-of-winter bluesPop Culture
NotebookYeah, we can be done with winter now. Even if
the flurries on the other side of the window aren't going to accumulate too much,
the snow's packed so high everywhere that the side streets resemble a Minotaur's
labyrinth. Or maybe the abominable snowman's labyrinth. Is that a thing?